John Bradstreet
Major-General John Bradstreet was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served in King George's War, the Indian War and Pontiac's War. He was born in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, to a British army lieutenant and an Acadian mother. He also served as the Commodore-Governor for Newfoundland.
Life
Jean-Baptiste Bradstreet was the son of Agathe de Saint Etienne de La Tour and her first husband, Edward Bradstreet. It is unknown whether he was related to Puritan Simon Bradstreet. Bradstreet died in New York City on 25 September 1774. He had married, and had two children.Military service
Through his Acadian mother's influence he was accepted into the regular British army in 1735. Bradstreet's early military service consisted of garrison duty in Nova Scotia with the 40th Regiment of Foot, during which time he took advantage of his Acadian heritage and engaged in trade with the French at Louisbourg. As a young officer he was stationed at Canso, during King George's War he was captured in the French raid on Canso, however he was released within a year. During his internment Bradstreet developed plans for the capture of Louisbourg, although it is not clear whether these plans were ever implemented and to his dismay he was not given command of the expedition. However Bradstreet accepted a commission as lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Massachusetts Regiment and contributed to the final victory at Louisbourg, which fell after a siege in 1745.French and Indian War
In 1755, Bradstreet, then a captain, was appointed as Governor William Shirley's adjutant general. In 1756 he led a relief column to Fort Oswego with supplies. Upon his return he was attacked a combined French-Indian force. He survived but his warnings to Governor Shirley and Lord Loudon of the weak condition of Fort Oswego were largely ignored in midst of their ongoing power struggle. The French captured and burned Oswego later the same year. In the spring of 1757 he assembled supplies and transports at Boston for Loudoun's abortive expedition against Louisbourg.At Halifax in August, he was among those who felt that the attack should not be postponed. On 27 December 1757 he was appointed Lt. Colonel and in 1758 he participated in the attack on Fort Carillon, where he led the advance guard following the death of General George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe. The Battle ended in disaster and Bradstreet attempted to organize some sort of retreat, which had turned into a chaotic rout. After the failed attempt to capture Ticonderoga, Bradstreet immediately proposed his idea to attack Fort Frontenac, the key French supply base on Lake Ontario.
Bradstreet's proposal met with approval from British planners and he was given a force of approximately 3,000 men to carry out the operation. Bradstreet reached Lake Ontario on 21 August and four days later was within sight of the fort, which surrendered on the 27th. After sacking and burning the fort, Bradstreet's force retreated to British territory. With this attack the French had their supply line in the Great Lakes cut. Under the new British commander in North America, Jeffery Amherst, Bradstreet served as deputy quartermaster general in Albany, a lucrative position which he held until the end of the war.